Ixis Naugus, one of the last surviving members of the Order of Ixis, was born from the fusion of three other wizards: Agunus, Nusgau, and Suguna. During his time as the Kingdom of Acorn's Royal Wizard, he helped instigate events that led to the Great War, and then fled to the Zone of Silence as a safe haven where he was trapped for years until he managed to escape after the First Robotnik War. Naugus became an immediate enemy of Sonic the Hedgehog, who eventually trapped him in the zone again until the Arachne released him once more. After being a prisoner in Dr. Eggman's Egg Grape Chambers, Naugus lost his sanity and blindly served his order's founder, Mammoth Mogul, until his mind was restored by a Chaos Emerald from his apprentice. Following this, he plotted to retake the throne from the Acorn family and succeeded through manipulating the fears of New Mobotropolis' populace, who crowned him king, only to face further difficulties.

Contents

History

Origin

Agunus the rhino, Nusgau the bat and Suguna the lobster were three of the last members of the Order of Ixis to survive the Forgotten War. They worked together in an attempt to learn about the Days of Fury and what preceded them, but were unable to determine anything. The three, desperate for this knowledge and the mastery of fire, the one elemental power that eluded them all, used their abilities to race to the sun only to find themselves evenly matched. (StH: #66, #163, #231)

Naugus presents himself to the royal family.

Despite treachery from each of them, they fell into the sun together at the same time and then back to Mobius. This resulted in the birth of Ixis Naugus, a being with the merged body and talents of all three and mastery of fire to boot, but with no memory of his origins. The three wizards did not perish though; instead, Naugus became an entirely separate personality and their spirits were locked in the back of his mind. (StH: #66, #231)

Royal Wizard

Naugus' career as the royal wizard started when he approached King Frederick Acorn. He was content with his position until Nate Morgan became an ally to the king, and felt the scientist's creations threatened to make Naugus' magicks obsolete. To deal with this, he enlisted WarlordKodos' help to frame Nate for treason. The plan worked once Naugus magically enhanced a hostile situation involving Overlanders, and the conspirators set events into motion that would soon start the Great War. Kodos then tried to kill the twisted wizard so no blame could rest on him, only to target an illusion while the real Naugus retreated into a pocket dimension he discovered called the Zone of Silence, so he could avoid the war and rule what was left. However, Kodos sealed the Zone and stranded Naugus inside. (StH: #65, #66, #73)

Imprisonment and Escape

While trapped in the Zone, Naugus learned its workings and brought it under his control to masters the elements. He was soon joined by the huge Mobian, Feist, who pledged to serve the sorcerer, as did Uma Arachnis. In time, this same fate befell Kodos, who told Naugus of betrayal by an Overlander learning under him, and the threat he was to the kingdom. Not long after, Naugus began to contact Geoffrey St. John from the zone through an Ixis artifact, predicting Warlord Julian would soon turn on them, and instructed Geoffrey on how to prepare for this and help the kingdom. Eventually King Maximillian Acorn was banished to the Zone of Silence by Julian (now Robotnik), and surrendered his kingship to Naugus in exchange for becoming crystal to survive the zone's properties. Ixis Naugus later disclosed this transfer of power to Geoffrey, leading him to pledge his allegiance to the wizard as the now one and only true king. (StH: #41, #53, #233)

It was not long until Robotnik entered the Zone of Silence to explore it, only to be found by Naugus and tortured with his magic. Realizing he could never control the domain of the Zone of Silence or match Naugus' power while in the zone, Robotnik fled back to Mobius, never to return. Many years later, the king was rescued by the Freedom Fighters from the Zone of Silence, and a probe was eventually sent into the zone by Rotor to provide data on it. The probe however was sabotaged by Geoffrey St. John, which allowed Naugus and his vanguard to escape. (StH: #53, #233, #234)

Attempted Takeover

When Naugus escaped from the Zone of Silence, he made his claim as king in place of Max, only for Sonic and the Freedom Fighters to denounce it. Naugus then had Kodos and Uma Arachnis attack, who proved no match in their organic state until they were turned into invincible crystal warriors by Naugus' scepter. By then, Sonic discovered Ixis could only crystallize inanimate objects or those in his service and turned the tides be destroying the scepter to make his vanguard immobile. Ixis fled, but soon returned with a plan to rule the kingdom and Mobius by possessing King Max and inciting a civil war between the Mobian and Robian populations without being detected. However, the Sword of Acorns dispelled the deception, returning the people back to normal, and a near-death confrontation with Sonic wielding the Sword to nullify his abilities caused Naugus to retreat. (StH: #53, SSS: #4)

On the Run

Naugus reveals himself to his enemies.

Naugus then traversed the globe to seek out the means to gain enough power and rule all of Mobius, all the while pursued by Sonic and Miles "Tails" Prower. At one point, the two did catch up to Naugus without realizing it as they flew through a storm front that he had assumed the form of. While Naugus managed to force their plane the Tornado to crash land outside of Sand Blast City and delay their search, they finally tracked Naugus down to the Southern Tundra. At first Naugus had an edge in the fight, but the arrival of Eddy the Yeti and an avalanche caused by a mysterious satellite in orbit above them lead to a temporary reprieve. Using his magick, Naugus hid himself inside the flamethrower built into Eddy's cybernetic arm and waited until they passed into the castle of Nate Morgan to reveal himself. The advantage was short lived however, as Morgan exploited his greed and thirst for power to trick Naugus into returning outside the castle walls by going after a holographic Power Ring, forcing him to confront the stronghold's magical wards. (StH: #61, #64, #65)

After a prolonged period, Naugus finally managed to get in again by using the elemental form of earth to pass through the walls. This allowed him to appear right in Morgan's immense Power Ring storehouse, and Naugus absorbed a massive amount of the Magic Rings there to transform into Ultra Naugus. Sonic and Tails were there at that exact moment and also used an untold number of rings to confront Naugus as Ultra Sonic and Hyper Tails while he attempted to merge the Void with the Zone of Silence in order to grant him unlimited power. The three fought, but the energy Ultra Sonic and Hyper Tails used burned up too fast, forcing them back to their normal states, and it seemed as though Naugus had won. Not wanting to leave any loose ends, Naugus then tried to kill Nate so that he could not interfere, but was blasted back into the Zone of Silence when Morgan used the energy of a Power Ring housed inside his eyepiece, putting an end to the crazed wizard's ambitions for the time being. (StH: #65, #66)

Naugus once again managed to briefly escape from the Zone of Silence. Sonic, who was visiting the grave site of Eddy the Yeti who had saved them during their previous battle with Naugus in the Southern Tundra, found Naugus trying to use the power of the Magic Rings remaining at the battle scene. Sonic was able to defeat Naugus once again using these same rings and trap him in the Zone of Silence. (SSS: #15)

Joining Mogul

Naugus allies himself with Mammoth Mogul after discovering Mogul had founded the Order of Ixis

As part of Anonymous's (who later turned out to be A.D.A.M.) scheme, Ixis Naugus was freed when the Arachne used the Sword of Acorns to open a portal to the Zone of Silence in Dr. Eggman's Egg Grape Chamber, allowing the evil wizard to escape. The Arachne, who were now Naugus' servants, gave him the Sword of Acorns and he promised to Eggman that he would have retribution before freezing Mecha and escaping with his new henchmen. Naugus, now seeking the Crown of Acorns, encountered the being who had it: Mammoth Mogul. Mogul was also after the Sword of Acorns, and so the two started dueling each other while the Freedom Fighters battled the Arachne and Mogul's Destructix. But when Mammoth Mogul revealed to Ixis Naugus that he was once the founder of the Order of Ixis, Ixis Mogul, the wizard was shocked and pledged allegiance to Mogul, giving him the Sword of Acorns and causing the Arachne to also join Mogul. Naugus and his new master started battling the Freedom Fighters as well, only for the Source of All to be destroyed by Sir Connery, Paladin of the Ancient Walkers. The two villains remained intent on continuing the battle, but Eggman's Egg Fleet showed up and teleported the group to the Egg Grape Chamber. (StH: #163, #164)

While in captivity, Mammoth Mogul somehow used Ixis Naugus to protect himself from the Egg Grapes' effects, also resulting in Ixis Naugus completely losing his mind and becoming an idiotic beast. A.D.A.M. eventually freed the two (in exchange for Mogul's Chaos Emerald) and they escaped New Megaopolis, serving as a distraction to lure Shadow the Hedgehog away until A.D.A.M. could use him in his own plans. Later, Mogul got wind of Rouge the Bat having the Master Emerald and decided to go after it with his new mindless minion, not knowing it was just a ploy. But the two ran into the Freedom Fighters and although Ixis Naugus tried to use his new ability to Shadowmeld to defeat them, he was easily defeated by Bunnie Rabbot. He was then sent to Knothole Prison along with Mogul, Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear. (StH: #168, #173)

Not long after, Naugus and his fellow prisoners were captured by the Egg Fleet when it attacked Knothole, resulting in Naugus being sent back to the Egg Grapes. But Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy Rose broke out all of Eggman's prisoners, including Naugus and the others. When everyone was sent to New Mobotropolis, Nack, Bean, and Bark joined Mogul and Naugus and they attempted to take over the city, but were simply teleported to it's prison by NICOLE. Naugus later watched Sonic's fight with Tails. (StH: #175, #176, #177, #178, #179)

Shortly after the campaign of the second Enerjak, Mammoth Mogul concocted a plan to free himself and his minions. Revealing that he had over the years placed post hypnotic suggestions in several heroes-Tails, Mina Mongoose, and Mighty the Armadillo-Mogul took control of them and had them attack Sonic. When he proved too strong for them, Mogul sent them all into danger and threatened to force them to die unless Sonic brought him a Chaos Emerald he had acquired from Feist. Reluctantly obeying, Sonic brought Mogul the Emerald, and Naugus was freed along with his fellow prisoners. The group then disappeared, Mogul having decided that he would not attempt global domination again until Sonic was dead or too old to oppose him. (StH: #185, #186)

Claim to the Crown

Naugus' "sanity" is restored by the purple Chaos Emerald.

After Mogul established himself as a casino owner, Naugus was kept out of sight so that he would not upset the clientele, spending his days hissing and drooling in a completely unaware state of being. He was present and chained in Mogul's office when his secret apprentice: Geoffrey St. John arrived, carrying a chaos emerald, which he intended to use to restore Naugus' sanity, which, in a roundabout way, could potentially benefit Mogul's business and—most importantly—make Sonic miserable. (StH: #219, #220)

With Mogul's permission, Geoffrey gave the Chaos Emerald to Naugus, and the resulting surge of power restored his sanity. After crafting himself a staff topped with his new Emerald, he violently reprimanded St. John, enraged that his secret apprentice had failed to eliminate the Acorn family or preserve the kingdom. Geoffrey replied that the Acorns were needed to maintain the new kingdom, and insisted that his skills would help the evil wizard claim the throne. Naugus reluctantly followed the skunk, promising to take care of some unfinished business with Mogul, but immediately praised his apprentice after hearing how he back-stabbed Sonic and left him stranded in the Special Zone. Amidst pouring rain, Naugus arrived on the outskirts of New Mobotropolis, and while his apprentice updated him on current events, he once more plotted to take the crown. (StH: #220)

Within New Mobotropolis, he and his apprentice traveled to the Coliseum via Naugus' shadow-melding powers (an experience Geoffrey greatly disliked), where they watched Mina's concert from afar. Sensing a "poison fog" of fear, Naugus used his magic to amplify the citizens' emotions, causing them to react strongly to Mina's musical message of suspicion against NICOLE. Referring to similar trickery that ignited the Great War, Naugus told his apprentice that Mobotropolis' citizens would soon be "baying for blood", and when the time came, they would call out for him to "save them". (StH: #221)

Sonic confronts Naugus before the Council of Acorn.

For a time, Naugus and Geoffrey continued to lay low, allowing the citizen's paranoia and fear to escalate. Finally, when they felt the time right, they made a grand public entrance, with Geoffrey announcing Naugus as the rightful king. Naugus boasted to the people that with him as their ruler, they would not need to fear NICOLE; when the AI attempted to capture him in a nanite construct, the wizard used his magic to turn the nanites to crystal and shatter them. He then told the amazed crowd that NICOLE had no sway over him, and that he simply planned to go meet with the Council of Acorn (Geoffrey, meanwhile, was to keep the Freedom Fighters from interfering). Sonic, of course, protested and attempted to stop Naugus from approaching Castle Acorn, but he was thwarted by the wizard's elemental skills and kept out of the castle by a wall of crystal. Striding into a meeting, Naugus boldly announced his intentions to the council, only for Sonic to suddenly strike him (having gotten in through an uncovered window). Despite some hesitation, Elias handed his sword to Sonic at the latter's request, saying that the crown would defer to him when it came to dealing with Naugus. Naugus, angered, told Sonic that his claim had nothing to do with him, but the hedgehog refused to back down. (StH: #222, #223, #224)

During the fight, Naugus used his magic to raise the emotions of the council as they argued between helping the hedgehog as former freedom fighters and relying on political matters as a government. In order to end the fight peacefully, Elias was willing to surrender the crown as long as Naugus honored the council. However, Sonic was insistent on ending it before it could happen, once more risking treason by disobeying the group's authority. Their scuffle was soon put on hold as they felt a shock wave from outside, only to discover the return of Eggman and, to a more catastrophic extent, the Death Egg Mark 2. (StH: #224)

The Death Egg Threat

With Julian on the offensive and his kingdom threatened Naugus agreed to a truce with his enemies to combat the airborne fortress, reaching the Death Egg first the dreaded wizard unleashed his crystalline magic upon the vessel secure in its vulnerability to it. Stunned, Naugus found the structure to be resisting his magic somehow, as the fortress unleashed its weaponry on the attackers they fought back, Sonic and Sally even managed to penetrate the Death Egg's defenses and get inside, but soon afterwards the sorcerer, along with everyone else, was washed away as the world turned white...... (StH:#225).

The citizens of the republic hail the sorcerer monarch for protecting them.

After the events of Operation: Clean Sweep, Naugus awakened to find the aftermath had a nasty side effect, the spirits of whom he used to be (Nusgau, Agunus, and Suguna, the last wizards of the Order of Ixis) had awoken with him. After a brief battle with himself, Naugus kept control of his body in time to notice that New Mobotropolis was being attacked by one of Julian's contraptions. He joined Bunnie and they attempted to take down the robot, but their attacks were useless. In a fit of rage, both at the robot and his split personalities, Naugus shot a powerful blast of crystal magic at Titan Metal Sonic, engulfing both it and Bunnie in crystals. He then manipulated the robot as a Crystal Golem to block a blast from the Death Egg's Egg Annihilator Beam directed at the city. This was enough for the citizens of New Mobotropolis to choose him as the new king, and he basked in their cheers and admiration. (StH: #231).

King Naugus

While his enemies watched on in horror, Naugus approached Elias and requested the boy to relinquish the crown to him, but was interrupted by the quickster who desperately tried to tell the people that the wizard was a villain. After learning of the princess' transmutation into a minion of Julian's minions and that the white light from before was the doctor's doing, the spirits of Nusgau and Agunus assailed the sorcerer's mind with the intent of taking his body. However Suguna silenced the others, and advised Naugus to further prove himself as a better suited leader to New Mobotropolis by making Elias look even weaker. Boasting of his "selfless" servitude to not only one, but two of their previous kings and blatantly pointing out Elias' emotional turmoil, he deftly convinced what few citizens who were still uncertain. As his apprentice snatched the crown from Elias' head, Naugus allowed Geoffrey to crown him and was accepted by the people as their new king. (StH:#232)

Unwilling to accept it, his enemies tried again by revealing a hospitalized and half-crystallized Bunnie who was getting weaker by the minute. Spinning this to his advantage as well, the villainous wizard led the masses to the hospital where he intended to rectify his mistake made during the battle. Though Naugus had meant to undo the crystallization he was stunned to see that his sorcery had also restored the rabbit's organic limbs. The wizard-king swiftly dismissed it, claiming he had done so on purpose to reward the valiant heroine for her efforts in protecting his kingdom, and was once more met with cheers from the citizens. Later that day, Geoffrey was arrested for treason. (StH:#232)

Naugus' first true test as king came much sooner than expected, as the city was besieged again less than a day later, this time by the Battle Bird Armada. With the army's Battle Fortress on an attack course and scores of assault pods doing battle with the Freedom Fighters, King Naugus sprang into action to keep up a good appearance for his subjects. Naugus flew into the fight as his inner spirits bickered over his course of action and went directly for the Armada's flagship, attempting to crystallize it in order to spread his reign across Mobius, only to be stopped upon the arrival of the Battle Lord. After a brief exchange of introductions, Naugus was taken by surprise as the Battle Kukku just walked up and punched him in the gut, and then relentlessly pummeled by him before the wizard could counter-react. As he tried to recover, Naugus had Tails thrown on top of him by Speedy, and the Battle Lord knocked them both over the side of the Fortress. Naugus fell the whole way into the city, and still reeling from the beating, could do nothing as the Armada fired onto Castle Acorn with the Fortress' main canon and destroyed New Mobotropolis. Naugus did little to protect his new kingdom, leaving it to the Freedom Fighters to defeat the Armada. (SU: #35, #36)

Naugus attended Geoffrey St. John's trial, but was bored the entire time. After Geoffrey told of how he came to be Naugus' servant and declared guilty of treason, Naugus used his new position to grant his servant a pardon, a once annual power belonging to the Republic of Acorn's king. When Naugus found out that ex-king Elias was planning on leaving the city for Feral Forest, his old home, he contacted Eggman through his chaos emerald and told the doctor when the movement was going to happen, resulting in a battle that left Antoine wounded but Elias alive. Unbeknownst to Naugus, shortly after the encounter the time traveler known as Silver the Hedgehog arrived looking for a traitor to the Freedom Fighters. Silver's mentor, a future version of Mammoth Mogul, had told his young student that Naugus would be attempting to bring about the Ixis Resurgence. (StH: #233, #234)

Naugus later reasoned with the council that they had no option but to exile NICOLE from the city as a threat. When Penelope questioned if they could realistically exile her, NICOLE replied that the city could function without her, but that she would be needed for new buildings or defensive measures. Naugus interjected that he was the city's protector, and that the citizens could build what they needed. The resulting vote resulted in all of the council except for Rotor voting to exile NICOLE. The motion carried and Rotor decided to resign out of protest. Later, Sonic and Rotor went to the council and proposed splitting the Freedom Fighters into Team Fighters and Team Freedom. Sonic said that he would lead the first group, which would chase Eggman and rescue Sally. Rotor volunteered to lead the second team,using his battle suit, to protect the city. Naugus objected, again declaring himself the city's protector, and attempted to deny the motion. Rosemary Prower reminded him that the entire council-not just the king-decided issues by vote. The Council voted in the affirmative, and Team Fighters and Team Freedom were created. Naugus later showed up at the auditions for Team Freedom, accusing Big the Cat and Cream the Rabbit of doubting their king as well as trying to cast suspicion on rebuilt BadniksHeavy and Bomb given their previous allegiance to Robotnik. A building nearby was then damaged by Tails Doll, and Team Freedom's success in preventing it from harming the citizens put a halt to Naugus' criticism. Fuming at his counterparts, who had apparently been advising him in what to say, Naugus blamed first the exiled NICOLE, and then the Battlebird Armada for the building's collapse, declaring he would investigate further. (StH: #235, #236)

While alone, Ixis Naugus decides not to force back his mutations.

Naugus soon embarked on a scheme to bring him absolute control, starting with daily trips to the crater left by the Armada's destruction of Castle Acorn. Descending into the depths, he created a secret Ritual Chamber, which was discovered when he is followed there by members of Elias' Secret Freedom Fighters, a group formed by Harvey Who to overthrow Naugus' takeover. In preparation for his plan, he also sent his apprentice Geoffrey to recover the remains of an old comrade of his, Ixis Vale. Whilst Geoffrey was pursued by Silver, rebuilt Metal SonicShard, and Larry Lynx, Naugus was followed to his lair by Elias and former Wolf Pack members Leeta and Lyco. The latter pair arrived in response to a summons from Harvey Who, only for Naugus to dismiss them, though Rosemary again reminded him that he was one voice on a council, not the supreme ruler. Tormented again by his components, Naugus took on a more monstrous form, startling his pursuers, whom he attempted to destroy. After using his powers to reshape the underground with additional tunnels and rock spikes, he sent the trio of Freedom Fighters plummeting into the crater with a tornado. (SU: #41, #42)

Believing the intruders dead, he revealed to a returned Geoffrey his plan after dismissing the Skunk's worries over his grotesque mutations. Using his chamber and Ixis Vale's bones to augment his own power, he planned to enslave the entire city and use them to rebuild the Order of Ixis. Geoffrey objected, but Naugus silenced him with the knowledge that he had betrayed all his former allies and that he had no hope of stopping Naugus alone. He then sent him to search for the bodies of the intruders, unknowingly bringing about a chain of events that would lead to Geoffrey betraying his plan to their enemies. (SU: #43)

The moment came as Naugus was casting his spell: the heroes-minus Larry Lynx-invaded the chamber, with Silver and Shard taking Naugus head on. Despite his magical prowess, the wizard found himself daunted by the pair, particularly as Geoffrey's own foes prevented him from providing Naugus with his wand. Conjuring stone first to create barriers and then in an effort to crush his foes, Naugus was mocked by Silver, who belittled his powers in comparison to those of Enerjak, whom Silver had faced previously. Having similarly failed to stop Shard by trapping him in a vacuum, Naugus opted for a different tactic, turning the air around Silver into fire. The Hedgehog was rescued by Shard, who destroyed Vale's remains and caused Naugus to desperately attempt to complete the spell, only to have his concentration broken by the Wolf twins, utterly thwarting the spell. Explosives planted by the heroes caused the chamber to start collapsing, and Geoffrey abandoned his master to destruction. Enraged, Naugus changed into his mutated form, trying to block the escape of his enemies and his apprentice. The Freedom Fighters escaped, but Geoffrey was caught and made the excuse of pursuing their enemies. His plan defeated, Naugus contemplated attacking the council, but Geoffrey convinced him to blame the seismic disturbance on a cave in and take credit for saving the city from another disaster. Placated, Naugus released his apprentice and set off to meet with the council. (SU: #44)

Naugus inducts Isabella Mongoose into the Council of Acorn.

Naugus' former selves and his mutations continued to plague him, even as he found himself dealing with a sudden attitude change from his apprentice. Doing his best to remain composed, Naugus presided over the swearing in of the new council member, Isabella Mongoose, though doing so required brief contact with the hated and pain-causing Sword of Light. His composure-along with his control over his mutations-faltered when the new councilor called for a reversal of NICOLE's exile. Naugus was quick to declare again that he was the city's protector, only for Isabella to point out his failure in the face of the latest attack by the Death Egg. As the rest of the council went into debate, Naugus excused himself on the basis of feeling ill, telling the council to call upon him only if they came to a tie on the vote. In a desperate situation to heal his body, he desired to possess someone. He sought out King Maximillian offering to make him healthy again using his crystalline magic. Naugus told him that he would have to enter into contract again, but he weakly replied no. Naugus tried to persuade him, but was kicked out by Alicia. Still mocked by the voices, he decided to head to the Hedgehog residence for a different host. He told Bernie and Jules that he could use his magic to change him back to normal like Bunnie, but had to put faith into their king. Both of them, including Muttski, weren't persuaded by him and argued against it since Bunnie didn't need to. Bernadette argued that he may have another motive and Jules could be injured in a process that can't be explained, while Jules states that he drove Mobians and Robians to war, was the enemy of his mentor and tried to kill his son and demanded that he left. (StH:#241)

He was later escorted by Geoffrey to attend Mina's concert seeming more relaxed until he heard the concert was dedicated to NICOLE. As the concert started, Tails Doll caused the stage to collapse and Team Freedom rushed to Mina's and the Forget me Knots' rescue. Geoffrey accused Naugus of causing it, but turned to see Naugus wheezing in pain. Geoffrey escorted Naugus out of the public eye to his thanks, but Geoffrey snapped about Naugus betraying the city with his ideals. He tried to convince Naugus to ask for help and accept the citizens to help him. The voices try to convince him not to show weakness when Naugus had another idea. He pretended to agree with Geoffrey until he revealed that Geoffrey was in contract with him and possessed his body. Using Geoffrey's body, he arrived at the Council of Acorn, who had welcomed NICOLE back to the city. He pretended that he gave full support for her return and confessed that the king was sick and he needed their help. His condition continued to worsen, and NICOLE was rushing to create a machine that might be able to save his life when the second Genesis Wave washed over Mobius. (StH: #241, #247)

Abilities

The spirits of the Order of Ixis return to haunt Ixis Naugus.

Ixis Naugus's most powerful ability is his knowledge of the Ixian Magicks, giving him power over fire, water, earth, and wind. This gave him a variety of abilities, including manipulating those elements around him and transforming his body or parts of it into them. He was also capable of invading and controlling the minds of others, as evidenced by his brief possession of Maximilian Acorn. He has displayed the ability to manipulate and amplify negative emotions, turning unease into panic, irritation into rage, and wariness into hatred. One of his signature techniques was turning the bodies of his minions into crystal, giving them enhanced strength and the ability to endure the Zone of Silence. His abilities to possess and crystallize others, however, have both been shown to demonstrate limits: he cannot possess or crystallize living beings unless they have entered into a contract with him. The crystallization magic is capable of affecting inorganic matter without apparent difficulty, unless it is backed by magical energy, as in the case of the Power Ring matrix that protected the Death Egg Mark 2.

After Naugus lost his mind, he also lost these powers, but gained the power to Shadowmeld, a technique that allows him to travel through shadows. He can also take others with him in the process, although Geoffrey St. John claims it is an intensely unpleasant experience. When his mind was restored, Naugus also created a staff to hold his new Chaos Emerald, implying that he may have conjuration abilities now, also regaining his elemental powers. His body was also affected by the reawakening of Agunus, Suguna, and Nusgau, causing it to undergo bizarre mutations, though whether or not this is a benefit to his powers is unclear.

Naugus could also manipulate the Zone of Silence into whatever he wanted when inside of it, including fusing it together with the Void. He came to rely rather heavily on this ability, to the point where Mogul accosted him for it during their battle. But seeing as how it is now the Special Zone and ruled by Feist, it is likely that Naugus can no longer do this. Despite his magical prowess, Naugus is unskilled in terms of hand-to-hand combat, falling to one punch from Bunnie Rabbot and being easily overpowered by the Battle Lord in battle despite his abilities, though he was distracted by the voices of the Ixis Wizards in his head at the time.

Personality

Greedy beyond belief, Ixis Naugus is willing to go to any lengths to increase his own power. Incredibly vengeful, he never forgets being offended, and does his best to pay those who have done so back. Naugus is also partly if not completely insane, making him a dangerous and unpredictable opponent. His mental state has also made him relatively fearless, allowing him to insult his lessers or betters without qualm. The displays of immense ego and treachery are doubtless remnants of his three component personalities, whose own infighting nature led to Naugus' "birth."

As with many villains, he sees his minions only as pawns to use in his various schemes. In contrast and unlike most villains his level he shows little if any actual dignity, other than a few moments of grandiosity he is mostly a blunt person. He did show a great deal of respect for Mogul during their battle with the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix, though this was only after being trumped in every area and learning of Mogul's identity as the founder of his order. Following his escape from the Egg Grape Chamber, he was seemingly robbed of his intelligence, leaving only blind loyalty to Mogul. After his mind was rejuvenated by the purple Chaos Emerald, Naugus reverted to his old, boisterous self, and lost all loyalty to his former master given Mogul's use of him as a living shield.

Naugus apparently has a mutual dislike of robots, as implied during his face-offs with Titan Metal Sonic and Shard.

Appearance

Naugus's original design

Ixis Naugus appears as a tall, gruesome Mobian with bat ears, a rhinoceros horn emerging from his forehead, a long white beard, and a gloved lobster claw in place of a left hand. Though his SatAM incarnation possessed a long tail, Naugus has never been depicted with this appendage until after the Worlds Collide event. In later issues, he possessed a muscular build. Occasionally, he is drawn with the wrong amount of fingers in his right hand.

In recent issues, the Order of Ixis spirits began to possess Ixis Naugus, which results in Naugus taking a more grotesque appearance. He grew a tail added spikes on his lobster claw, enlarged nails and other disfigured features on his face, skin and body.

He wears a suit that has been colored either purple or blue at various times, always with a long black cape, glove on his right hand, belt, and boots. After regaining his sanity via the purple Chaos Emerald, he has also been seen with a silver staff, with the powerful gemstone attached to one end by a Lobster-like claw. While king, he wore a crown, but after the alterations to reality he was not seen with it.

Background information

Ixis Naugus is (as is the case with most of the original cast) based on a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon often referred to as SatAM by fans. In the series, this character went only by "Naugus", and is an evil wizard trapped in the Void while exploring it because he was betrayed by Robotnik.

The late Ben Hurst, one of the leading writers on Sonic the Hedgehog, revealed that a shadowed figure featured in the final episode, "The Doomsday Project," was intended to be Naugus, who would have returned in the third season as a major antagonist had it not been for the series' cancellation.